Outboard trolling motors have become extremely popular for low speed maneuvering of small boats. Their ability to slowly traverse the boat across an area without excessive noise or disturbance of the water has made such trolling motors especially popular with fishermen where fishing by trolling requires slow movement of the boat, where the boat must be moved slowly through congested waters filled with stumps, blowdowns, and dense weed lines, and where it is critical that the fish not be frightened.
Trolling motors are typically mounted either on the bow or transom of a boat and include a submerged propulsion unit, a motor shaft or tube suspending a propulsion unit below the water surface, a generally horizontally extending head at the upper end of the motor shaft and a mounting mechanism rotatably supporting the motor tube and including a clamp for engaging the boat. The submerged propulsion unit typically comprises an electrically powered motor which drives the propeller to generate thrust. To vary the direction of thrust, the head typically includes controls for the submerged propulsion unit and a steering mechanism which rotates the motor tube and the submerged propulsion unit. The steering mechanism typically comprises either a steering arm or foot-operated remote control or a hand-held remote control. Foot-operated and hand-held remote controls typically utilize cables, rods, or other linkages which are operably coupled to a drum or a rack and pinion connected to the motor tube to rotate the motor tube and reorient the submerged propulsion unit with respect to the fixed head. Steering mechanisms utilizing steering arms or tillers require the operator to rotate the arm so as to rotate the motor tube. To avoid the problem of interference between the steering arm and the main outboard motor, other steering mechanisms utilizing tillers utilize a geared mechanism wherein the steering arm moves through a shorter arc or rotation while the propulsion unit longer arc or rotation.
Although widely used, such trolling motors have several associated drawbacks. Trolling motors are generally configured to propel the boat in a forward trolling direction. However, in many situations it is desirable to backtroll wherein the propulsion unit is oriented to propel the boat in a rearward or backward direction. Unfortunately, to orient the propulsion unit for backtrolling normally requires that the tiller or steering arm be extended away from the boat over the water. As a result, it is extremely inconvenient and difficult to steer the boat during backtrolling.
To facilitate back trolling, some trolling motors include a bolt which holds the head to the tube. To reorient the propulsion unit for backtrolling requires that the bolt be removed, that the tube and the propulsion unit be rotated 180 degrees, and that the bolt be replaced. Because this procedure requires disassembly and reassembly of the trolling motor, this procedure is time consuming and inconvenient. Moreover, during this procedure, the bolt is often dropped, misplaced or lost. Other trolling motors such as those disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 6,213,821 (which is incorporated by reference in its entirety) may provide a gear which is selectively engaged and disengaged to allow for reorientation to a back trolling orientation. However, such a configuration requires that mating gear components be disengaged and re-engaged for proper functioning.
Thus, there is a continuing need for a trolling motor which is easily reindexed or adjusted to alternate between forward trolling and backtrolling without the associated drawbacks of the conventional systems described above.